Latch



7 ,191% 1,609,342 A. F. WINTERS ET AL LATCH Filed Jan. 19 1925 -2Sheets-sheet 1 A. F. WINTERS ET AL LATCH Dec. 7 1926. 1,609,342

Filed Jan. 19. 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Hkexcmm FMX fers Patented Dec. 7,1926.

ALEXANDER r. WrNrERs AND BAsIL n. CRAMPTON, or GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN.LATCH. l

Application mea January 19, 1925. serial No. 3,293.

This invention relates to latches of the Fig. is an inverted perspectiveView of type adapted to be mounted on swinging 'the latch bolt. v doors.One place where the latch is very Fig. 6 is an inverted perspective of anumuseful is in connection with refrigerator ber to which the latchhandle is pivotally 55 6 doors, it being very desirable that arefrigerconnected.

ator door be held tightly shut and that Fig. 7 is an invertedperspective of the strains upon the door hinges or upon the latchhousing. fastening meansemployed to attach the-latch Fig. 8 is aninverted perspective of the tothe door shall be eliminated as much aslatch handle, and 60 10 possible. Fig. 9 is a perspective View of the.pivot The present invention is concerned with used to pivotally connectthe latch handle 'latches of the' sliding bolt type.` It is a prito themembers shown in Fig. 6. mary object and purpose of the invention Likereference characters refer ,to like to make a latch of this type inwhich, when parts in the different figures of the draw# v65 the bolt isretracted so as to free the same ings.

from its -keeper connected to the adjacent The door 1 may bel of anysuitable condoor casing or j amb, said bolt will automatistruction andis adapted to close a door opencallybe heldin'retracted position andstay ing surrounded by the door casing, one side in such position untilthev door is again of whichis indicated at 2. It isunderstood 70'closed. v'With the closing of the door, means that, in refrigerators,the door is hingedly are employ d to automatically disassociate mountedat one vertical edge and a latch is the bolt from the latching meanswhich has mounted adjacent the opposite free vertical held it inretracted position, freeing it for edge' of the door. The latch isadapted to outward'movement and wedging engagement engage with thekeeperr which is mounted on 75 with the keeper to thereby press the doorthe door casing or jamb 2 in a position to into tightly closed position.A further obcooperate with the latch bolt. ject and purpose of theinvention is to pro- In the construction of the latch which is vide aconstruction of this character in attached to the door. a latch housingof sheet which a number of the parts entering into metal, preferably, isused having a raised -80 3" the construction of the latch may be madeportion which includes a top 3 with inas stampings by use of suitabledies with av wardly extending` parallel sides 4 turned great reductionin the cost of manufacture. outwardly at their inner edges and formedVarious other objects and purposes thanl into attaching flanges 5,through which those specifically enumerated will appear screws may passthrough suitable openings as understanding is had from the following topermanently connect the housing to the description taken in connectionwith the ac.- door. The housing is also provided with companyingdrawings, in which, ends 6 and 7 integral with the remainder of Fig. 1isa section taken through the ragsaid housing, a rectangular orsubstantially mentary adjacent portions of the door and square opening 9being made through the end 90 40 door jamb, the latch attached to thedoor 7, and a circular opening 8 through the end also being shown insection and the keeper 6` as best shown in Fig. 7. At one end, or on thedoor jamb partly in section. near said opening 9 a portion of the top 3Fig-2 isa view similar to Fig. 1, showing is pressed outwardly somewhat,as indicated the bolt retracted and the door in the act at 10, throughwhich a somewhat elongated 95 of moving to closed position. rectangularopening 11 is made, at each side Fig. 3 is a transverse section throughthe of which an elongated slot 12 of substanlatch, the plane of thesection being substantially the same length as theopening 11 is tiallyat the'pivotl of the latch handle. cut. j

Fig. 4 is an inverted perspective view of Within the housing made asthus de 100 5 an element which is located within the latch scribed, amember made of sheet metal is housing and which carries the latch bolt.adapted to be located, the same consisting of ing 11 before described.Two ears 15 extend end of the top 3 of the housing,

a' base 13 with an elongated opening 14 therethrough of the same size asthe openatright angles from the base 13, one at each side edge thereof.These ears pass through the slots 12 and the base 13'seats inthe recessmade by elevating the section 10 at one the openings 11 .and l14 cominginto direct conjunction and aligningwith each other. A handle,lfb-preferably cast as one piece is provided, between its ends beingformed `with projecting bosses y17 from which a downwardly and inwardlyextending finger 18 projects. The bosses pass between the outwardlyprojecting ears 15 which extend beyond the top 3 of the housing, and thefinger 18 extends inwardly through the openings 11 and 1,4, the handle16 lying aboveand in a plane paralleling the length of the housing, asshown in Fig. 1. A pivot pin 19 passes through suitable openings in the.ears 15 and the lever 16 which opening in the lever 16 is made throughsaid bosses 17. The pivot pin may be ofany suitable character. It isshown as including a pin threaded at one end to receive a nut, but it isevident that the threaded end and nut may bereplaced by forming ariveted head if desired.

A further element used inthe construction ofthe latch, shown in Fig. 4,is made from a single piece of sheet metal, including an elongated base20 which, at one end, has a section 21 struck therefrom so that theinner edge of the section 21 is raised above the adjacent edge of thebase 20. The outer end of section 21 is reduced somewhat in widthleaving a short projecting portion 21a. Sides 22 are turned outwardly atright angles from a portion of the base 20 and the section 21, beingspaced apart so as to pass between but lie against opposite sides 4 ofthe latch housing. These sides 22 extend only a portion of the length of`this member,

the member for the remainder' of its length being formed with outwardlywings 23 which, when the mem er is put in the latch housing, bearagainst the inner sides of the parts 5 of the housing. At the endopposite where the section 21is located, an end .piece 24 is turned atright angles through which a circular openlngl 25 is made, the sainebeing adapted to align'with the opening 8 made in the end 6 of the latchousing, This member when placed within the latch housing has theendprojection 21I received in the rectangular opening 9, and the end 24parallels the end 6 of the latch housing. y

The latch bolt includes a body 26 rectan- 'gular in cross section which,at one end,

Indicated at 27, is out at an angle as shown. A cylindrical rod 28integrally cast with the latch bolt extends from tie end 27, beingadapted to pass through the circular open-- extendlng vinclined asindicated at 39.

ings 25 and 8 before described, while the body of the\bolt passesthrough the lrec` tangular ope-ning 9 ing. An opening 29 is made throughthe body of the latch bolt into which finger 18 of the handle extends,as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. That portion of the bolt whichprojectsoutwardly from the housing when the bolt is in itsouter position isindicated at 30 and is somewhat reducedy in thickness by cutting away aportion thereof at its inner side, a shoulder 31 being thus formed. Onrits inner side and Aoutwardly from said shoulder a recess 32 is formedin the projecting end 30 of the latch bolt, while at its outer side thebolt is cut at an inclille, as shown at 33..the purpose of which will`later appear. The bolt is normally moved to.

outer position by a coiled spring 34 located around the rod 28, beingdisposed. between the part 24 and the inclined end 27 o f 'the body ofthe bolt (see Fig, 1).

It is evident, that with this construction the tendency of the spring isto normally press the inner side of the bolt tightly against the raisedsection 21 of the sheet me-tal -member previously described, and whenthe latch handle is operated so as to retract the bolt as soon asshoulder 31-passes back of the inner edge of the part 2], said vshoulderdrops back of said inner edge of the part 21 and the bolt is securelyheld againstoutward movement. y-This is what occurs when the door is tobe opened and the latch lever is turned outwardly to the positionshownin Fig. 2.

The keeper 35 secured to the dooi` jamb 2 is then turned inwardly towardthe edge of the door, making the in-tnrned section 36 which, at itsinner side, is inclined as ndicated at 37 to cooperate with the inclinedouter side 33 vat the end of the latchk bolt, a wedging action being setup when the bolt, under the pressure of the spring 34, moves outwardly..This wedging action serves to force the door to tightly closed position.The section 36 at its end is turned outwardly, terminating in anoutwardly extending horn 38, the inner side of which is If,accidentally, the latch bolt should become disengaged from the retainingpart 21 and be projected to its outer position, theclosing of the doorvbringing the projectingl end of the bolt against said inclined side 39,causes the bolt to move inwardly until it passes by the cornerformed'byithe junction of the sides 37 and 39 on the'keeper, whereuponthe bolt is free to move outwardly and engage against said side 37 asisevident. not the regular action of the latch bolt but shows that nodamage will occur if such acicdental or inadvertent disengagementof thebolt shouldoccur. v

in the end 7 of the hous-y This isl The keeper has. asnger 40 formedintegrally therewith located a. distance fromy and inwardly of said part36 of the keeper before described. `The finger 40 terminates in anoutwardly turned end 41 located so that with the closingof the door, theend of the latchA bolt .comes against the part 41, as shown in Fig. 2.This causes, due to the momentum of the door 1, the rojecting end of theboltto be moved and s oulderA 31 to disengage from the section 21holding .y

the bolt inl'retracted position, freeingthe bolt for outward movement.The recess 32 in the bolt' receives thevend of the part 41 and isnecessary as otherwise thebolt couldl not move to engage with thekeeper. `This clearly appears in Fig. 1.

The construction Aof latch described isv -latch bolt The bolt carryingmember,

when the door is closed strains on t e door- Ahinges o on the screwfastenings, which eliminated. This is a opening andv `-two Aslots shownin 4, is held against disengagement Vfrom t e housing as the rod 28passes therethrough and also through the end of the housing and the boltcannot be moved outwardly so as to disengage the parts until handle 16has been removed. By reason of the bolt being held in retracted ositionattach the housing to the door, are wholly very desirable feature inconnection with refrigerators. `The construction of latch is verypractical and effective as has, been proved in tests. The invention isdefined in the appended claims and is to be considered as comprehensiveof yall forms of structure coming within their scope. I

We claim: 1.` In a latch, a housing having its outer side at one endprovided with a rectangular aralleling and located one at each side of te opening, a member having a base` with a rectangular openingtherethrough, and two outwardly extending e'ars located within thehousing, said ears passing throughv said slots `and said openingaligning with the opening in the housing, a trough-like vmemberdisposedv within :the housing having a bottom and sides extending atright an les therefrom, said sides lying within the si es of the housingand at their edges bearing against the base of the first mentionedmember, a latch bolt slidably mounted between the housing and the trouh-like member, spring means normally tending to move the bolt in one direction, and a lever ipivotally mountedbetween the ears of thefirstmentioned mem-4 ber and haring a linger extending downwardly throughsaid openings in the hous- 'ing and the .first member, said bolt alsobeing provided with an opening into which the free end of said lingerextends, substantially as described.

\ 2.'A latch comprising a housing havino a ltop and inwardly etxendingparallel sides, sa1d top adjacent one end having a rectangular openingcut therethrough and two slots, one at each side of and paralleling theopening, a member comprising a base having a rectangular openingtherethrou 'h and two outwardly extending ears locate within thehousing, said ears extending through said slots andthe openings in saldbase and; top

of the housing aligning with. each other, a

trough-like member located .Within the housing comprising a. bottom, twooutwardly projecting spaced apart sidesl and anoutwardly extending end,said sides lying. against and between the sides of the housing and attheir upper edges bear against the base of the first mentioned member, alatch bolt slidablyl mounted within said trough-like member, said boltincluding a rod at one end passing through o enings made in theend ofthe housin an in the out-turned end ofpthe trough-bke member,

and ksaid bolt between its ends having an opening therethrough, a coiledspring located around said rod between the body of the bolt andout-turned end of the trough-y like member, and a manually operableleverpivotally ymounted on said ears and having a `finger extending throughthe openings in the top of the housing and the base of the firstmentioned member and into the opening in said latch bolt, substantiallyas described.

3. A latch comprising a housing having an elongated top and inwardlyextendin parallel sides, a trough-like member locate within the housingincluding a bottom and `outwardly extending sides, said bottomadjacentone end having a section pressed outwardly in a different plane than theplane of the remainder of the bottom, the sides of saidmember passingbetween the sides of the housing, a latch bolt slidably mounted in saidtrough-like member and projecting at one end through an opening in theend of 'the housing, spring means normally tending to move the boltoutwardly at said projecting end, said bolt at its inner s1de'` beingformed with .a shoulder adapted to enga-ge back of the edge of saidoutwardly pressed section of the bottom of the trough-like member whenthe bolt is .moved to retracted posit-ion, and manually operable meansfor moving the bolt to retracted position.

4. In a latch, the combination of a hou'sing, a boltreciprcatingly-mounted on said housing and having a catch on its innerside engageable when the bolt is retracted, a strike having apart withwhich said bolt en# spring for projecting said bolt, a retractng gageson the closing of the door to disen- 10 lever pivotally mounted on saidhousing and gage Ithe bolt catch. having an arm projecting into saidhousing In testimony whereof we affix oui` signanto sliding engagementwith said bolt, the tures.

bolt and arm having coacting cam surfaces acting to swing the boltlaterally to catch ALEXANDER F. WINTERS. engaging position whenretracted, and a BASIL R. CRAMPTON.

